Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (21 page)

"Why didn't you say something about them?" Lady Skie demanded crossly. "We would have never allowed you to step foot outside of the gates knowing that you were out killing goblins!"

"Which is exactly why I didn't tell you." Leia told her in an infuriatingly reasonable tone. "I knew that you would refuse to allow me to leave if you knew what was really going on."

Lady Skie stared at her for a long moment, then dropped her face into her hands. "Gods, you are just like your father!" She moaned in frustration.

"It's fine," Leia assured her. "I'm usually able to take them all down before they even know that they're under attack. Besides, I always have Slither with me. He will make sure that nothing happens to me."

"Be that as it may," Captain Repheth told her in a stern tone. "What would your mother and father say if they found out that you were killing goblins while out hunting?"

"My mother and father are not here, are they?" Leia replied with a note of steel in her voice. "I'm not going to let a few goblins keep me from gathering the supplies that we need to replenish the stores. My parents left the responsibility of running the castle on
my
shoulders, and I intend to fulfill those responsibilities."

"You're as stubborn as your father, too." Lady Skie grumbled miserably, raising her face from her hands.

"Is there anything else that needs my attention before Slither and I go hunting?"

Lady Skie sighed in resignation. "No, that was everything. Go ahead and go have your fun. Just make sure that you stay safe, and don't take any unnecessary chances with the goblins. Your parents would never forgive us if we allowed you to get yourself killed."

"I'll be careful." She promised, then she and Slither hurried off towards the castle to retrieve her armor and bow.

They had just reached the castle courtyard, when a shadow suddenly fell over them, darkening the entire square.

"Dragon!" One of the castle soldiers bellowed in warning, sending his comrades scrambling to the strange siege machines that Damarius had designed to help protect the city from shadow dragons.

Leia and Slither stopped in their tracks and stared up into the clear blue sky, immediately spotting the enormous dark silhouette of a dragon circling lazily overhead.

"It's just Tempest." Leia informed the soldier who had called out the warning. "Tell the men to stand down."

They watched as the huge scarlet dragon continued to circle overhead for another moment, then it suddenly tucked its wings and dropped down to settle gently in the courtyard outside of the massive keep.

"Good afternoon, Tempest." Leia greeted the enormous serpent with a happy smile. "It's been a while since you stopped by to visit. How have you been faring?"

"Very well, little one," Tempest replied as she settled down before the young girl. "How are you enjoying your new role as Protector of Sevria?"

"It was interesting at first, but I think I prefer being a spoiled child." She told the great scarlet serpent truthfully. "It's a much easier job, and you don't have everyone looking to you to solve all of their problems."

"I encountered Xaxis a few days ago, and he said that he was looking for a new lair. Did you get tired of him hanging around all of the time?"

"Of course not." Leia shook her head. "I love having him around. If it were up to me, he'd continue to live here in the courtyard. But father thought that it was time that he found his own lair, and the castle servants were beginning to complain about having to clean up after him, so I told him that he should start looking for his own place somewhere nearby."

"Your father was right." Tempest told her. "He needs to have a lair to call his own. Besides, you've been coddling him too much. He'll never mature into a strong dominate male if you keep treating him like a hatchling."

"I know, " Leia said helplessly. "but I can't help myself. He's one of my babies." She gave Tempest a curious look. "So what brings you to Sevria? Did father ask you to check in on me, and make sure the city is still standing?"

"Pretty much." Tempest admitted with a nod. "This is the first time that he's been away from you since your abduction, and he's worried that something may happen to you while he is gone. He asked me to look in on you from time to time and make sure that you're not having any problems."

"None to speak of, other than all of the goblins that are suddenly infesting the mountains."

"You haven't had the dragonspawn dispose of the goblins yet?" The huge dragon asked Slither in surprise.

"SSSlither hasss been unable to locate the ssspawn." The shadowspawn hissed, hanging his head shamefully. "They have abandoned their traditional gathering placesss."

"We think that they may have went underground." Leia informed her. "Apparently the grasslands have been teeming with roving bands of dragonspawn for several weeks now. The Deola have been spending a great deal of time chasing them around, but every time that they get close, the dragonspawn flee into the various goblin hollows spread throughout the foothills."

"Goblin hollows?" Tempest blurted in surprise.

Leia nodded. "The Deola won't follow the dragonspawn inside the hollows, though, so they've taken to collapsing the entrances. We're guessing that the dragonspawn decided to take over the goblin hollows, and drive out their occupants. That's why the mountains suddenly seem like they teeming with goblins."

"What could possess the dragonspawn to take over the goblin hollows?" The huge dragon asked in a baffled tone.

"Well, there are rumors that the hollows run for hundreds of miles beneath the mountains and foothills. If that's true, they would be perfect for staging surprise attacks." The young girl suggested wisely.

"The dragonspawn wouldn't do that." Tempest disagreed with a shake of her head. "They would be too fearful of what Damion may do if he were to find out."

"Not if the Dragon God ordered them to take them over." Slither pointed out with a frown. "They may fear Damion, but they would never disssobey the Dragon God. If Draco told the ssspawn to drive out the goblinsss and ssseize the hollowsss for the horde, then that'sss what they would do."

"That's true." Tempest conceded. "It's certainly the only reason that I can think of for their sudden change in behavior."

"Which means that the Dragon God is up to something again." Leia frowned.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet." The scarlet dragon cautioned. "We can't assume that Draco is behind everything odd that happens." Her expression grew thoughtful. "I think I'll go pay a visit to some of my brethren. Perhaps they have also noticed the dragonspawn acting strangely, or maybe have heard something that could be useful in explaining why they would suddenly seize the goblin hollows." She looked back to Leia and Slither. "I'll return if I discover something useful. Until then, have Xaxis stay close to the city, just in case something happens."

They watched as the huge scarlet dragon launched herself back into the air and soared off into the distance, then Leia hurried inside to retrieve her armor and bow. They were soon hurrying along one of the now familiar trails that led deep into the wild, slipping silently from shadow to shadow as they searched for prey.

"There!" Leia whispered, pointing to a large flock of turkeys that were feeding on wild mushrooms at the edge of a small clearing. "I think that I can take down three or four of them before the rest flee." She reached for her bow.

"Wait," Slither said in a scarcely audible hiss. "SSSlither will circle around and flusssh them towardsss you. You ssshould be able to take down more that way." He quickly melted into the shadows and circled around to the opposite side of the clearing.

Leia made ready, then, after giving the huge shadowspawn time to get into position, she blew a musical whistle, causing Slither to burst from concealment, startling the turkeys, and sending them hurrying straight towards her. She let three arrows fly within the space of a heartbeat, dropping three birds near the rear of the flock, then she stepped from the shadows directly into the birds' path, causing them to instantly change direction, and begin fleeing back towards Slither. She dropped four more of the plump birds with four skillful shots before the flock disappeared into the underbrush, leaving half of their numbers behind.

"Good job!" Slither congratulated her. "Nine birdsss total." He held up two turkeys that he had managed to snatch as they fled.

"It's not a bad start." Leia agreed, going around retrieving her arrows, and placing the turkeys in a large burlap sack. "Let's try and take a few partridges, and then we'll go drop off our catch. It's still early enough that we may be able to make a second trip before nightfall."

For the next hour, Leia quietly crept along as Slither hurried through the underbrush startling any roosting partridges that he found, causing them to burst from concealment and leap into the air. They rarely made it far before one of the young girl's skillfully aimed arrows brought them back down. The burlap sack was soon filled to the brim, and they quickly began to make their way back toward the castle.

They had only traveled a short distance when Slither suddenly froze mid-step, his eyes narrowed, and his tongue quickly flicking in and out as he tasted the air around them. Without saying a word, tossed the sack of birds aside, then placed a claw tipped hand against Leia's chest, gently pushing her back into the shadows. Moment's later, a pair of dragonspawn appeared from the underbrush and hurried towards them with aggressive hisses.

Leia shrank further back into the shadows and raised her bow nervously as Slither hurried forward to block the dragonspawn's way with a deep guttural growl.

The dragonspawn slid to a stop before the huge shadowspawn with apprehensive expressions, and then backed away several feet as Slither let out an angry hiss.

Leia, her bow still held at the ready, watched as Slither continued to snarl and hiss at the suddenly fearful creatures, who occasionally hissed or grunted in reply.

After several minutes, the huge shadowspawn snarled at the dragonspawn impatiently, then gestured towards the forest. The dragonspawn hesitated for a moment, then disappeared back into the underbrush the way they came.

"What was that about?" Leia asked, stepping from the shadows.

"They are the firssst ssspawn that SSSlither hasss encountered in weeksss." The huge shadowspawn told her with a snarl of frustration. "SSSlither wasss attempting to dissscover why they have driven the goblinsss out of their hollowsss, but they refusssed to anssswer. They sssaid that they were ordered not to reveal what wasss the ssspawn wasss up to." He let out a growl of frustrated anger, then stomped over and retrieved their sack of birds.

"Is it normal for a dragonspawn to refuse an order from a shadowspawn?" Leia asked in surprise.

"No. They will ssstill take ordersss from other ssshadowssspawn, but they will no longer lisssten to SSSlither. They sssay SSSlither isss no longer part of the ssspawn."

Leia frowned. "Does that upset you?"

The huge shadowspawn thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "Nay. SSSlither hasss a new family. SSSlither isss of SSSevria now." He frowned. "But we ssstill need to dissscover what the ssspawn are up to."

"Why don't we follow them then?" Leia suggested with a grin. "They may lead us to where the rest of the dragonspawn are hiding. We can find out for ourselves if they really are heading underground into the goblin hollows."

"It would be dangerousss." Slither hissed uncertainly. "Your father would not be happy if he found out we followed them, not to mention what your mother would sssay."

"What they don't know won't hurt them." Leia told him, quickly making up her mind. She gestured to the sack full of birds which Slither held in one hand. "Stash those birds somewhere safe, and let's see if we can find out where those dragonspawn are heading."

Slither hung the sack on a nearby branch, well out of reach of any wildlife that may happen along, then reluctantly followed the young girl into the underbrush in the direction that the dragonspawn had retreated.

"We should be able to catch up if we hurry." Leia whispered as she hurried along, using her new skills in stalking from the shadows to move in near total silence as they raced along after the dragonspawn.

"Let SSSlither take the lead." The huge shadowspawn hurried forward, following the nearly invisible trail left behind by the dragonspawn.

They traveled less than a half mile before Slither suddenly slowed to a stop. Motioning for Leia to follow, the huge shadowspawn slowly slinked forward and carefully pushed the underbrush aside, giving them an unobstructed view of the two dragonspawn as they disappeared into a large fissure that led deep into the mountainside.

"That sure looks like a goblin hollow to me." Leia murmured with a frown. "What do you think?"

"SSSlither thinksss that sssomething ssseriousss isss afoot." The huge shadowspawn growled, his eyes narrowed in thought.

Leia stared at the large crack in the mountainside for several moments thoughtfully, then slowly started to creep closer, but stopped as Slither placed a restraining hand one shoulder.

"What are you doing?" The huge shadowspawn demanded in a quiet voice.

"We need to find out what they are up to in there." Leia told him, shaking herself free from his grip. "We need to know if it's something we that we need to be concerned about. I don't want to be caught unprepared if the dragonspawn are gathering for an attack."

Slither looked unconvinced.

"Listen," She told him impatiently. "We need to know what they are up to. If they are gathering for war, we need to know before it's too late. Now," She gave him a stern look. "I'm going in there to find out what they are up to. If you don't want to come with me, wait here. I shouldn't be long." She hurried towards the opening.

"That'sss not going to happen." Slither growled, hurrying after her, his expression still dubious.

They carefully crept their way through the shadows until they reached the cavern opening, then Slither wordlessly took the lead.